Improvement in pencils



L. de PABER.

Pencil. i

No. 213,884. Patented April I, 1879.

UNITED STATEs PATENT OFFICE.

LOTHAIRE DE FA'BER, or sTEIN, NEAR NURNBERG, GERMANY.

IMPROVEMENT IN PENCI LS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 213.884, dated April l 1879 application filed February 5, 1879.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, LOTHAIRE DE FABER, of Stein, near the city of Nurnberg, Germany, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Pencils, of which -improvement the following is a full, clear, and exact descri ption.

The new kind of pencil which I have invented, and which forms the subject of the present application for Letters Patent, is based on the principle of lead-holders or endless pencils; but it realizes its purpose under a much simpler and more economical disposition than heretofore, and reminds one of the ordinary pencil, which is sharpened by cutting away the envelope of wood surroundingthe stick ofplumbago. There is a difficulty, which is found to become greater and greater as time passes, in procuring cedar-wood for the fabrication of pencils, which (lifficulty has led me to search for a system in which the stick of plumbago is separate from the envelope, so that the latter may have an almost indefinite duration.

For this purpose I have combined a special mode of adjustment, which does not comprise any of the complicatcd mechanism of ordinary lead-holders, and which is effected by means of one small binding-ring, which retains directly the stick of plumbago in the envelopc in the neighborhood of the point.

It is this combination which constitutes the new and distinctive character of myinvention; and the manner in`which the same is or may be carried into effect will be readily understood from the following description, referrin g to the accompanying drawings, which form a part.

thereof.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the pencil Fig. 2, a view in longitudinal. section of the holder and clamping-ring, and Fig. 3 a view in cross-section.

The envelope is preferably wood; but it may be made of any other desired material. It has throughout its entire length the form and dimensions of the Wooden envelope of ordinary pencils, except at one end, where it has a particular conformation, as shown in thedrawings. This extremity b of the envelope has the form of two truncated cones placed base to base, and in it are formed three slits or slots, so as to form the three branches of a clamp.

' ring, whiehis of metal, slides or moves upon the inner cone, b'. As itis prcssed outward it meets a larger portion, and thus causes the branches of the clamp to approach each other, and consequently shuts the holder upon the rod of graphite,which is thereby perfectly fixed within the holder. If the ring be drawn up or inward, the opposite eifect is produced-that is to say, the branches open in virtue of the natural elasticity of the clamp, and the lead is loosened so that it may be drawn outward, or altogether removed if there is occasion.

The ring may be entirely plain; but to insure the retention of the ring` in whatever position it may occupy at the moment of binding, it may be formed with ribs or grooves on theinside, so that by'turning all the desired adhesion will be given upon the material of which the holder is composed.

As is readily seen, the mode of binding by the use of a single ring is most simple, and offers no comparison to the mechanism which is employed in lead-holders, even the largest.

In my plan the clamp is formed of the body itself of the holder, and does not constitute an exterior device put on after cuttin g or shapin g the end of the holder. The ring is the only piece added to the pencil, properly called.

One may therefore, without rashness, prophesy that this new plan of manufacture, quick and inexpensive, will be able to compete in cheapness with the ordinary wood-enveloped pencils, over which the improved pencils have the advantage of dispensing with the cutting to sharpen the pencil, and also of preserving the envelope in all its length for placin g therein successive] y an indefinite number of sticks of plumbago, according as they are used.

Pencils may be made in accordance with my invention of all sizes, and the envelopes or holders of all materials and with any desired ornamcntation.

I claim as my invention-- 1. A pencil or lead-holder, substantially as described,the same consisting of the centrallyperforated wooden envelope of substantially uniforin cross section untl solid periphery throughout the greater pnrt of its length, but formetl at one end into the shape of two eones base to base, which eonical portions are slit to form :t clalnp` in combination with n bindingring movablc on the inner of said eones, essentially es shown and specified.

A pencil or lead-holder consisting,r of u Wooden envelopc of solid periphery throughout the greater part of its length, but t'orlncd at one end into the shape of two concs huse to base, which are slit to form a clamp, the buses of said cones being of substnntinlly equul cir- LOTIIAIRE DE FABER.

Witnesses RoBT. M. IIoorER, A. CAnYL. 

